Sailing Trip Round Ireland, Leg 3: Greystones -> Kilmore Quay
Passage of Tidal Gate Number 2.
Debarking from Greystones at night!
The full moon was out and we were facing it as we headed out of the Greystones Harbour. It was beautiful. We had a great time, and now the moon was inviting us to travel the night under her light down the southeast coast of Ireland.
We pulled out from the coast heading south straight into the first night watch for the team that were up. Even though I and some of the others were due to head down for our ‘rest’ while the watch was on. I lingered upside to bathe in the beautiful night and to stay a while in the company of the mates, who were strangers but days ago, and were my team as we pushing on through this adventure!
A round of tea and coffee kept the conversation going while the we ambled southwards into the unknown. It was weird as this is the part of the earth that I know the best, from the land, but only a few miles out from the land there are currents, banks, rocks, lights including sea life that shone in our wake. These were the things that I never saw before and treasured every new interaction with nature filling me with anticipation for the next moment…
Watch 0200 to 0600 DST was my time for rest, so as much as I was enjoying the adventure and the company, the next watch was nearing so I descended to my bunk to divest and tuck into my sleeping bag on the port side midship, and often on the windward side (the ‘highside’)! And that means I need to trust the ‘leecloth’ and make it my friend, so much so that it embeds a line down my back 😂
Getting into ‘my bunk’
Sharing a bunk in ‘timeshare’ with another grown man is an organisational skill.
- Get the toilet out of the way before anything😂
- Can use my red headlight to see what I need to see? 🏮
- What did leave on the bed? And where is my stuff?
- Where will I leave my jacket and clothes as I take them off?🧥
- How will get into the sleeping bag? Especially when the boat is heeling
- A routine to the tying the rope at both ends, at the feet first and then at my head. And perfecting the knot that will keep me secure during my sleep.
After all that I nodded off waiting for 0600 DST to come my way …
Sunrise on a new day
This country that I have lived in never seemed more beautiful as I rose from the leecloth, mark on my back and all. The crew we moving along nicely and it was our watch again on the helm and deck!
And to top all of that we were holding large a sail that was gliding us down the coast! The wind was at our back or side the whole way round so far. God was playing the wind in our favour 🌬
Carnsore point had been mentioned before but I didn’t really the timing that the skipper was using to bring us around the southeast corner of Ireland. And I had heard about standing waves as you go ‘around the corner’ where the two great bodies of water would meet. Honesty, I didn’t know what I was in for and a little nervous about what we were about to go through.
While the pending Tidal Gate was coming, we were watching some of the most beautiful beaches that I never knew existed just south of Arklow town and thought to myself, ‘I have so much of Ireland now to explore’, which filled my heart with a light exciting anticipation for the future.
Our banter
Banter is an Irish term for ‘friendly dialogue’, and we seem to be pretty good at it, even if I toot our horn a little! 😁
Some ‘sad news’ enter our conversation, as one of our crew would have depart early on the southern coast. And I could feel the conversation between us gently attempting to elongate his stay with us for the rest of the trip. Life moves, the weather changes, people come and go but somehow we were bonding and the idea that one of us was about to leave didn’t feel right but there we go.
Tuskar Rock, Carnsore Point and the Southeast Corner of Ireland
We were arriving to:
- Tuskar Rock, the lighthouse of entry from Europe to Ireland,
- Carnsore Point, the southern most tip of Ireland
- The Meeting of Waters — The Irish Sea, The English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean
Round the Corner @ Carnsore Point
So here we were lining up for Saint Patrick’s Bridge and Kilmore Quay. The exercise of piloting our way into Kilmore Quay was guided by our Skipper who had already been in here at least 6 times, as this was his 7th trip fully around Ireland. What was so new and thrilling for us, was a ‘day at the office for Cian’.
Prepping for the Pilotage into Kilmore
A number of the crew were taking their Coastal Skipper Practical Course, so the pressure was on to plan and execute the piloting into the new Harbour of Kilmore Quay, and a bit of a tricky one for those who had not ventured in before.
Cian, the Skipper, was overwatching the whole process (Thank God!🤣)
Saint Patrick’s Bridge
When I hear the name of a place, all sorts of ideas come into my mind, my imagination conjures up possible images of what it might look like and why it might exist. So I thought, we may have to go under a bridge to start with and somehow Saint Patrick had some connection with this part of Wexford. All I really knew was that we had to head directly through a green and red buoy which represented Saint Patrick’s Bridge/
Just as I write this I am discovering more precisely what Saint Patrick’s Bridge is, which makes it so much more interesting.
We sailed peacefully over Saint Patrick’s Bridge (a rock and shingle ridge) and then had to line up our transit line into Kilmore Quay and we understood this to be a very narrow line into the harbour.
Guiding Pylons into Kilmore Quay
As you note all the elements coming in, there is a set of 2 pylons that by dark are flashing but by day are more difficult to distinguish to make a transit safely into the harbour.
Sharp turn in between Large Fishing Trawlers
As you come to the right of the harbour wall there is a 90 degree turn into the harbour. And they you simply moor in.
Our team had fun navigating all these challenges on the way. When it is your first time into a harbour, nothing is obvious. And the second or third time, you think what was I concerned about! I was a big achievement!
On the Hammerhead
Hoping onto the empty hammerhead made coming an easy entrance. We held the boat fast to the cleats on the pontoon. The sun was shining and we were ready for what he heard were some of the best Fish and Chips in Ireland!
Striping off all the sailing gear and freshen up is such a pleasure after having giving Lynx Clipper a tidy up and letting Cian the Skipper, organise the mooring with the local Harbour Master!
As a team, we are firmly on the south Coast of Ireland, also know as the ‘Copper Coast’ in the Celtic Sea having traveled almost half way round Irelnad now. A sense of accomplishment was building among us!
Now time to freshen and rest looking out over the Saltee Islands!
